Odd One Out
by Banks99
Summary: Julie always seems to be the odd one out. What will happen when she is no longer a part of the flock? Will she stand alone, or will she find a new flock to fly with?


Disclaimer: Sorry, don't own the Ducks, only the plot.  
  
Julie's POV  
  
No matter what I do or what I say, it seems that I'm destined to be the odd one out.  
  
An obvious reason is that I'm a girl who plays hockey. Moreover, I'm a girl who's good at hockey. And yet, my talents never seem to be recognized. I was always the odd one out.  
  
Back home in Maine, I was well known. My two older brothers also played hockey, and I had started playing goalie for them at the age of six. At eight, I went to join a league, and was originally turned away because I was a girl. It took an intervention from my brothers and a coach with a kind heart to get me on a team. But fate wouldn't let me get off that easy.  
  
My first season I barely played. The coach would put me in for a few moments, and then pull me right back out before I had the chance to play. I didn't have any friends on the team. My brothers would be seething at the end of every game, but I learned to ignore it. And yet, watching my brothers play in their games, I couldn't help being jealous.  
  
I'll never forget the last game of my first season. We had two other goalies- both guys- who had played most of the game. In the third period, right after the face off, Matt took a slap shot to the head. He received a small concussion and had to sit out for the rest of the game. My hopes rose for the briefest of moments, but of course Coach put James in instead of me. James wasn't a very good goalie, and when the third period was about halfway through, we were down by four goals and had started to give up hope of winning. However, I still remained on the bench. I hadn't played at all that game. Finally, which two minutes left in the game, Coach called a time out. He looked as though he was about to regret what he was about to say. He sighed deeply.  
  
"Godhard," he said slowly, "you're out." My ears perked up. "Gaffney..." here he paused. "You're in."  
  
I smiled brightly. In a flash I was out on the ice.  
  
I'd love to tell you that we won that game. But we didn't. We didn't have that perfect fairy tale ending. But I didn't let a single goal in. The team had lost, but I had won.  
  
The next year I was allowed to play more often. We won the region. The next three years after that we won the state championship in our age division. My brothers couldn't have been prouder.  
  
I originally had some trepidation about playing for Team USA. I didn't want to leave my team. After my second season, we had become close. I thought they were the best friends I could ever have.  
  
I was right.  
  
So I flew to Minnesota. The Ducks were less than welcoming. They made it quite clear that their flock wasn't accepting new Ducks. So the five new players were left to their own devices. The other four, all boys, immediately began planning a prank war against the Ducks. I held myself above such petty tricks. I doubt that I would have been included anyway- girls are often excluded in such matters. And so, yet again, I was the odd one out.  
  
Eventually the Ducks came to accept their five new players, but they always held a slight resentment for me. None of the original Ducks had their positions threatened by a new player, save one. Goldberg. His position as goalie had been threatened by my arrival, and so he naturally resented me. Because of this, none of the original Ducks gave me much of a chance. So yet again, I was the odd one out.  
  
It would turn out that they had nothing to worry about. For some reason, Coach Bombay didn't put me in. I sat on the bench and watched my teammates skate their hearts out for their country. All I had managed to do was hit two of the Iceland goons during our first game against them. I wore the uniform, but was not part of the team. All through the Junior Goodwill Games, I was the odd one out.  
  
I sat quietly through the last game. I had been to see Coach Bombay, but he hadn't taken any notice of my pleas. I didn't follow the game. I didn't participate in huddles, I didn't cheer for the team I didn't feel a part of. My spirits rose in the locker room before the third period, when we became the Ducks. We went into the third period with renewed spirit, but I still felt excluded.  
  
When I skated out for the last shot, I wasn't sure what Goldberg's reaction would be. He looked undecided for a moment, and then nodded and wished me luck. I thanked him and settled back into the crease. I took a deep breath and faced Stahl, ready for the shot.  
  
The Ducks came to accept me after I blocked the shot and won the game. I had won it for them, but I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I had missed. Even though I had won it all for them, I felt like my presence on the team had been insignificant. I felt like it didn't matter that I had been there. I was the odd one out.  
  
We had one last night together, the campfire, before we all went our separate ways. Every Duck sat with their best friend on the team. Everyone automatically assumed that Connie and I were best friends; however, we were only united in being the only two girls on the team. So, I sat with her, but for the most part she talked with Guy. I understood why, they were dating after all, but I still felt bad about it.  
  
Things changed a bit when we got to Eden Hall. In the beginning we were all banded together, a true team. We had to be. We had no friends at the school outside of ourselves, and Varsity was out to get us. The Ducks were finally flying together, even if under different colors. But we hadn't counted on the ripples Coach Orion would cause.  
  
Goldberg had come to trust me during the Junior Goodwill Games. He no longer believed that he had anything to fear from me. That changed when Orion took charge. He completely ignored all the lines and positions. He moved Adam to Varsity. And he made me the starting goalie.  
  
Oddly enough, no one seemed upset with me. Goldberg was resentful, but the common enemy was Coach Orion. As Charlie would later put it, he was breaking up the best thing any of us ever had. I disagreed, but I kept my thoughts to myself. The best thing I ever had was my team back in Maine. But I didn't think the Ducks would take very kindly to that statement, so I just kept my head down. But to some level, the Ducks knew.  
  
I complained about Orion to some extent. There were some of his policies that I disagreed with. And yet, I couldn't help feeling happy in my new position. I was happy with the changes, for the most part. And so, yet again, I was the odd one out.  
  
Even though I felt bad for Adam, I continued to participate in the pranks against Varsity. They had been horrible to us, yes, but Adam hadn't done anything. Up until the dinner prank, I had always said that Adam shouldn't be a target. The rest of the team disagreed, and this led to bad feeling amongst the Ducks.  
  
For a while we were united. Hans' death made us see past our petty differences. Charlie started acting like our Captain again. Adam quit the Varsity. And we grew to at least respect Orion, even if we didn't like him. We spent hours analyzing Varsity, figuring out the best way to beat them. As Orion would put it, we learned to pick up the trash.  
  
And most importantly, we learned how to be a team.  
  
Amazingly enough, we beat Varsity. Goldberg was enjoying his new position as defenseman, and was no longer upset about me being the starting goalie. It would seem that things were going well.  
  
Of course, it was just too good to last.  
  
All the time when we were at Eden Hall, Scooter had been flirting with me. In an effort to be loyal to my team, I had ignored it as best I could. And yet, I found myself growing more and more attracted to him. So after the game with Varsity, when he leaned down to kiss my cheek, I let him.  
  
I don't think any of the Ducks noticed. If they had, they didn't say anything. But it would turn out to be too much when we started dating.  
  
Portman was the first Duck I stopped speaking to. We had exchanged words, and with our volatile tempers it probably would have come to blows if I hadn't been a girl. I attributed his indignation to jealousy- after all, it was certainly no secret that he liked me.  
  
All the Ducks seemed to be avoiding me over the next few days. Oh, they were nice enough, but they made no effort at all to include me in conversations, or anything outside of practice for that matter. I figured that they would get over it, and it would all blow over soon. However, it was not to be.  
  
The tension between the Ducks and I remained for nearly two weeks. During that time, I spent more and more time with Varsity. To my surprise, they really weren't all that bad. In truth, we had played just as large of a role in the prank war as they had. I even found out that the dinner was a tradition; JV paid for one at the beginning of the season, and Varsity paid for one at the end of it. They had just neglected to tell us that.  
  
Riley and Cole were actually pretty nice. They had both been well raised, and their manners reminded me of Banksie- no, Banks- without all the arrogance. Scooter was kind of like my older brothers, except that he wasn't condescending to me at all.  
  
The Ducks, however, did not take this view on things.  
  
For a whole day they appeared to be conferencing, shooting furtive glances over at Scooter and I. I was now eating with Varsity, and the next day Charlie stopped me on my way to lunch. He asked to talk to me, and I agreed. We walked outside and took a seat at one of the benches. Slowly and deliberately he began to speak.  
  
The Ducks had been talking about Scooter and I. They had decided to give me an ultimatum; either I broke things off with Scooter or I would no longer be a Duck. Effectively I would still be on the JV team, but they wouldn't consider me to be one of them. I didn't even have to think about my decision. Shakily I stood up and turned to face Charlie. My voice was calm.  
  
"Charlie," I sad softly, "I can't believe that anyone who would call themselves a friend would ask someone to make that choice." My voice began growing stronger. "If I break up with Scooter, I want it to be on my own terms. I want to make my own decisions. And if being a Duck means that I always have to follow the flock..." I took a deep breath, "I don't want to be a Duck."  
  
I turned and walked back into the building. The Ducks were all watching me. I ignored them as I went to sit at the Varsity table. I put my head in my hands.  
  
Scooter leaned over and asked if I was okay. Riley and Cole looked concerned. I just shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it.  
  
So here I am. On a hockey team but no longer a Duck, unable to talk to the people I left my flock for. The people my flock thought were simply using me to get an in on the Ducks.  
  
No matter what I do or what I say, it seems I'm destined to be the odd one out.  
  
AN: please hit the button and tell me what you think! 


End file.
